Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Friday, November 16, 2007

If you like to live your life on the edge, but still care for your safety, a motorcycle helmet is exactly what you need to protect you, and the variety of motorcycle helmets available today will make your style unique. A motorcycle helmet can prevent or reduce a head injury and even save your life.

Motorcycle helmets come in all shapes and colors, their design is becoming more and more attractive and additional conveniences come included in order to make them more comfortable, such as interior fabric and foam. Nevertheless, take care to buy one that not only suits your personality and desires, but also meets the required international standards. You should take into consideration many things, before buying the only piece of apparel that is likely to save your life.

Choosing a helmet can be as difficult as buying the motorcycle. As a beginner, you could meet the temptation of looking more at the design or the colors. By doing this, your motorcycle riding experience can become way less enjoyable than if you have a helmet that fits properly on your head.

To begin with, you all know that black helmets are the most common among riders, as they are often connected with this color. Nevertheless, what not many of you know is that the same black helmets offer the smallest amount of visibility to motorists. Wearing a white helmet reduces the risk of collision by 24%, because it is much more visible than a black one is.

What is more, a helmet cuts down the wind noise, which helps you hear other sounds better, it reduces fatigue from the wind and, thus, keeps you more alert. It also protects your eyes from wind or insects, allowing you to see well. A full-face helmet offers better coverage than a half helmet and provides more protection. You have to be sure that the helmet suits your head and does not get off suddenly. It should also fit snugly, so that it should be stable when you shake your head side-to-side, front-to-back or up and down.

The helmets are made from plastic, and the best ones are reinforced with Kevlar or carbon fiber. They are designed to break in a crash, so they provide no protection after the impact. Therefore, for your safety you should change it after any impact, whether there is visible damage or not.

The most common injury in motorcycle accidents is closed head injury, which is the most dangerous, as it cannot be distinguished. This causes the brain to move around inside the skull, causing dangerous bleeding. This is why a motorcycle helmet is so necessary and prevents you from having unfortunate incidents. Studies indicate that riders who wear motorcycle helmets crash less frequently and suffer fewer injuries and deaths, and they are less likely to suffer long-term or permanent disablement.

The easiest way to purchase e helmet is online, this way you can take your time and study all models, colors, avoiding the dealer’s pressure. The graphics are amazing and becoming more and more complex, from the classic flames to skulls, cobras, wolves and many others. All helmets in our online store provide D.O.T. standards and you can be sure that they are safe and will protect you.

Therefore, do not wait any longer; buy a helmet today for your protection. Choose a helmet that suits best your personality and needs and you will become the lord of the road. Motorcycle helmets can save your life, and they are fashion accessories, which are comfortable and unique. By choosing a special motorcycle helmet model, you can be sure that everybody will notice you on the road.

Motorcycles with flat tires . . . roll hard! If your motorcycle is cruising along at 55 mph and your rear motorcycle tire suddenly deflates [has a blow out!] you now have a tremendously, dangerous challenge ahead of you. Avoiding other vehicles, controlling the steering, a swaying rear-end making everything unstable makes for a sizable victory when you roll off the side of the road and come to a stop. Congratulations, job well done! More riders than not end in an accident or something worse. All because of their motorcycle tires. Who knows your thoughts if it is the front tire to blow? You better be prayed up.

We all want a sharp looking bike. Once you select your make and model, your interest is on chrome, color, accessories, personal appearance, dress etc. but let us not forget about the importance of the rubber motorcycle tires that get us around. Frame, structure and engine all work together and hopefully are worry free for years. Motorcycle tires keep moving and we need to often watch for wear and safety.

There are two critical places that motorcycles need to be checked before each ride or at least once a month. Both are easy to do and both are many times overlooked. One area is brake fluid. If the pedal is mushy, bleed the lines or have someone else do it. Two, motorcycle tires need to be inspected. Why do we forget these?

Our safety depends on it. We trust our life to the two motorcycle tires under us that have at best two patches of rubber in contact with the ground the size of our two hands at any given moment. Move that along at 55 mph or even at 15 mph and each of the motorcycle tires is taking on a serious responsibility. The attention and care we offer towards our motorcycle tires can help us tremendously with our safety and enjoyment of biking.

Here are some areas where things can go wrong with your motorcycle tires:

- Tire Pressure: Under-inflation may cause uneven wear, loss of control [stability], wears the motorcycle tires out faster and increases the chances of the motorcycle tires failure. Over-inflation allows motorcycle tires to heat up, limit traction [although a slight 10% over-inflation may actually increase traction in wet conditions] and affects the wear. To correct these, use a good tire gauge and check the motorcycle tires when it is cool. Keep the motorcycle tires pressure at the recommended PSI.

- Fluids: Brake fluid, gas and lube spills need to be cleaned immediately. It deteriorates the rubber. Many of the cleaner protectants used on motorcycle tires harm the finish rubber. The best way to clean is to use old-fashioned soap and water.

- Bumps: Potholes, curbs and stones may slash or crack the tire. Look for any problem.

- Accelerated wear: Everyday use may be a potential hazard. Spinning motorcycle tires on take off or holding the brake on emergency stops need to be checked.

- Nails, screws etc.: It is better to find them before you ride than to discover these nuisances 20 minutes down the road. Motorcycle tires that use a tube may "pop" from a nail/screw or sharp object, where a tubeless tire may have the nail/screw actually plug the hole they created which gives you a little more time for repairs.

- Valve stems: Make sure the cap is on. It helps to protect the valve stem from leaking air and protects the stem valve from opening by centrifugal force and leaking air at higher speeds. When you use motorcycle tires with tubes, the valve stem should be straight out. If it is on a slant, the tire has been under-inflated and the tube has moved around the rim. Often this damages the tube and creates a leak.

- Tire weights: Weights need to be firmly fixed to the rim. If they fall off it will throw the tire out of balance and cause uneven wear.

- Rim: Cracked or dented rims are potential problems. You may want to replace wire spoke wheels when they become damaged with a cast or billet wheel that uses tubeless tires. Check with your dealer on this.

- Worn/torn: Thin tread is easier to detect. Flat wear is due to leaning very little and driving mostly in a straight line, resulting in a ridge at the edge of the flattened middle of the tire. This causes motorcycle tires to become unstable in a leaning turn. It wants to warble. The tire may have more wear but it should be replaced. [It is good to replace both front tire and rear tire at the same time.] Sidewall punctures, cracking, cord separation are an alert.

- Tread: Check the grooves called "sipes" making sure that the tread is still sufficient. The lack of having tread affects the cooling of the tire when in use, wear, stability, traction and can cause hydroplaning on wet roads.

When doing your inspection of motorcycle tires get a friend to roll the bike while you check the tread and sidewalls. You may need to get a work stand if alone. Obstacles to having a good inspection are long pipes, saddlebags, fenders etc. making it hard to see the rear tire. Front motorcycle tires are a bit easier to examine. This sounds like a lot but it goes quickly and is easy to do. Make it a habit to check your motorcycle tires frequently.

Some miscellaneous information you need to know. You will have better handling and get more out your motorcycles tires when you keep the rear tire aligned and balanced. Consider having this looked at approximately every1000 miles. Be careful when you have new motorcycle tires it takes the first couple of rides to get traction working well.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Recently in Kuala Lumpur AIME (asian international Motorcycle event ) was held at Putra world trade centre.Chopper builder from USA and Japan come to show off their customised machines.Check out this pics( from choppersgarage forum and misc source)

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

When it comes to motorcycle tires, what you don't know definitely can hurt you, so pay attention.

"Crashing," a wise old motorcyclist once observed, "sucks."

To avoid this form of suction, you can hone your skills, learn to anticipate threats in traffic, dress to make yourself conspicuous to other drivers and keep your motorcycle in peak condition. The last two strategies require the least effort, but surprisingly, motorcyclists seem to adopt them less frequently than the others. Most motorcyclists swaddle themselves in basic, hard-to-see black, and cruiser riders seem particularly enamored with the black-is-beautiful fashion philosophy. But that's not the point of this column.

The other neglected safety strategy is motorcycle condition. Two critical items that seem to be most ignored are brake fluid and tires. I am amazed at how many brake levers feel mushy when I squeeze them. I don't know if it's caused by air in the lines or old fluid that has absorbed water, or both, but the solution is the same: bleed the brakesand install fresh fluid at least every other year. It's cheap and easy.

It's Only Flat on One Side

However, the only equipment problem that shows up at any extent as a factor in motorcycle accident statistics is tire deflation or failure. Users of tube-type tires, found on most cruisers with wire-spoke wheels, increase their chances of experiencing the thrill of a sudden tire deflation, but it can happen with tubeless tires as well. If you have ever experienced a rapid tire deflation, usually called a blow-out, you know how exciting it can be, even if you don't crash as a result. If you are moving at highway speeds, you are suddenly riding a bike that is horrifically unstable and doesn't steer very well at all. Just trying to get to the shoulder—and stay there as you roll to a stop—can be quite a challenge. If you are in heavy traffic or a corner, things could be quite grim. I have never had a front tire blow out on a motorcycle, but I suspect it's even worse.

Motorcycle tires are both simpler and more complex than brake fluid, but even more vital. Everything a moving motorcycle does relies on those two little hand-print-sized patches where the rubber meets the road. If your tires are not in peak condition, your motorcycle can't steer, stop or accelerate as effectively as it should.

The tires on our bikes are amazingly tough, but they confront an imposing array of threats. Potholes, punctures, slashes, and accelerated wear from lock-up and wheelspin are everyday hazards that can ruin or degrade your tires' condition in an instant. You can't always avoid these dangers, but you can check to see if they have inflicted any visible damage to your tires. Do you inspect your tires for visible damage before every ride? Every day you ride? Once a week? Once a month? If you said yes to any of those, you are probably doing better at it than most riders.

To be sure, cruiser manufacturers and fashion don't make it easy to inspect your tires. You can count on your thumbs the number of current cruiser models with centerstands. Add in full fenders, long pipes, and other accoutrements that make it hard to see more than a sliver of tire, and tire inspection becomes a challenge. You either need to have someone to help you roll the bike while you look at the tread and sidewalls, or you need a workstand to do it by yourself. Of course, some things, such as advanced wear or unusual wear patterns are easy to spot, particularly up front.

Some things can be checked without viewing the entire perimeter of the tire. You can easily check valve stems, for example. A tilted valve stem on a tube-type tire is trouble. It usually means the tube has been spun on the wheel, which can pull the stem loose. The valve core should also be seated tightly. Avoid flimsy valve stem caps, and use caps with sealing rubber O-rings inside. Check that balance weights are firmly attached. Look for dented or cracked rims. If you find a bad rim on a wire-spoke wheel, consider replacing it with cast or billet wheel that you can run with a tubeless tire. (See the billet-wheel buyer's guide in the "Accessories and Gear" section of this site.

Considering the consequences of a tire failure at speed, you owe it to yourself to get a good close look at your tires regularly. That goes double if you have tube-type tires, which can blow out if punctured. The result of overlooking a nail you picked up on the last leg that you rode the bike can be loss of control just as you're passing a truck.

The Air in There

A tire doesn't have to deflate entirely to get you in trouble, however. An underinflated tire decreases stability, limits traction and has increased susceptibility to catastrophic failure. A significantly overinflated tire decreases traction. And, of course, it wears much faster.

Assuming your tire gauge is approximately accurate, these problems are even easier to avoid than those defeated by regular tire inspection. Yet, a large number of motorcycle tires out on the street remain visibly low on pressure. Tire pressure checks and adjustments should be a very regular part of every motorcyclist's regimen. They should be made when the tire is cold. Even just sitting out in the sun or riding a mile to the gas station can change the pressure. Check pressures first thing in the morning.

How do you know if a tire gauge is accurate? Compare yours to a handful of others. Get your friends together for a tire-gauge party. Bring a large-volume tire so the pressure doesn't change significantly when you lose that little bit of pressure each time you take a reading for a different gauge. Throw out the gauges that deviate significantly, say five psi, from the majority.

Keep your tires pressures at the recommended values. If you are unsure of the recommended pressure and don't have the manual handy, the pressures are often posted on the VIN plate with the loading information If you don't get around to checking them often enough, set the pressures slightly high, so they settle into the pressure range you want. A couple of extra pounds can also improve a tire's traction in the rain.

Worn and Torn?

Most riders notice a tire that's getting thin in the tread. Wear bars have made it easy to tell when the tread is getting down to its last miles. But a motorcycle tire may have already exceeded its useful life well before then if it has worn so that its profile has changed significantly. Typically what happens on a cruiser is that the middle of the tire wears before the sides, leaving a flat section in the middle. This also creates corners in the profile at the edges of the flat section. When you lean the bike to turn, the bike becomes unstable when you try to ride on this ridge in the profile because it wants to fall onto one side or the other of this ridge between heavily worn and less worn. This can make it weave while leaned over.

As a result, when you can see a stripe of wear in the middle of a tire, the tire should probably be replaced even if the tread hasn't bottomed out. If you avoid locked-up stops and tire-spinning starts, you'll see less of this sort of problem, but it will also show up if a bike is ridden mostly in a straight line and rarely leaned over.

Of course, a tire should also be discarded if it it is significantly damaged. How much damage is too much? There is some disagreement on what's repairable, but most tire manufacturers will tell you that sidewall punctures make a tire unsafe. Deep ozone cracking can also damage a sidewall, but that's rare. Some of those other things you look for in those pre-ride inspections, such as slashes and cord or tread separations are also grounds to ground a tire.

Make a Call

If you are unsure if a damaged tire can be repaired, ask the manufacturer. All have toll-free numbers just for such situations. The tire manufacturers are also happy to field calls about which tire to use on your bike, what tire will mate with that aftermarket wheel, whether one of their tire models is compatible with another or even another brand. (However, expect them to be properly skittish if they have not tested the combination you are proposing.)

Tires don't require much to serve you well. Simply keep them inflated properly and check them frequently for damage. Tires should be your number-one maintenance assignment, because if they don't work right, nothing else matters.

Hi.I'm thrasher115,just call me thrasher.I'm a two wheels enthusiasts from Borneo Island Malaysia,here i'm sharing with all of you about what i know and what i want to know about two wheels world.Correct me if i'm wrong. Most of the contents of this blog prepare by me and some of them i borrowed.I prefer cruising with easy riders/choppers compare to other bikes.In this blog i'll try to blog about motorcycles ,what i know ,what i want to know and i also try to blog about me and what i've done recently,haha as long you want to read it.I try my best to blog in English but i'll also blogging in malay.